In April 2006, Network Rail organised its maintenance and train control operations into "26 Routes". The main line through Crewe forms part of Route 18 (The West Coast Main Line). The North Wales Coast Line from Crewe (North Junction) to Chester and North Wales has been designated Route 22 (North Wales and Borders) and this includes the line to Chester from Acton Grange Junction, south of Warrington. The line from Shrewsbury to Chester via Wrexham is Route 14 (South and Central Wales and Borders) (until Saltney Junction).

The line is not currently electrified, so Virgin Trains, the current operator of the InterCity West Coast franchise, currently uses its diesel Super Voyagers, which they have done since December 2007, on routes to Holyhead. There are no official plans to electrify the line, but both the Welsh government and former Chancellor George Osborne have indicated that there is a strong case for electrification in the future.

So important was the line in the 19th and early 20th centuries to passenger, mail and freight traffic between Britain and Ireland that the world's first experimental and operational water troughs were installed at Mochdre between Colwyn Bay and Llandudno Junction. Their purpose was to enable steam engines (especially on the Irish Mail) to collect water without stopping. Later, considerable stretches of line between Chester and Colwyn Bay were quadrupled to increase line capacity but these sections have now been reduced to two tracks.

North Wales Coast Line between Chester and Saltney, showing the two tracks over the River Dee. The path of the other two tracks which were removed can also be seen.

The Welsh Government would like the line to be electrified, especially if Crewe becomes a rail hub due to HS2 in 2026.[2] Chancellor George Osborne said in July 2015 that there was a "really strong case" for electrification of the line.[3] The Electrification Task Force said that the Chester to Crewe line was a Tier 2 priority for being electrified in the CP6 period (2019-2024).[4] A £50 million signalling upgrade programme is currently being carried out between Shotton and Colwyn Bay, which will see modular colour lights supervised from the South Wales Rail Operating Centre in Cardiff replace the manual signal boxes and mixture of semaphore and older colour lights currently in use, in March 2018.[5]